In computer networks such as a local area network (LAN), internet and intranet, a communication protocol includes Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP). A communication network generally includes resources or peripheral devices such a printer and a facsimile machine, and some of these peripherals have server software so as to function as a server in the network. However, since these peripherals are not necessarily located within the same network environment and often have device dependent instructions, if a terminal on the network accesses one of the remote peripherals, the terminal must access the resource according to a common access method. One such a common access method includes a browser in Internet.
One prior attempt uses a terminal unit to access a resource on a network without a browser. A terminal unit accesses peripheral devices based upon a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and provides data with the peripheral device. If the peripheral device is a printer, the printer functions a server while the terminal functions as a client. In other words, the terminal provides the printer with data for printing the data. On the other hand, if the terminal does not have the data to be printed, the terminal must establish the data access in order to print the data. This prior art requires an operator of the terminal to manually and independently access the necessary resources on a network.
Another prior attempt considers a possibility of having a server function within a peripheral device to enable Web printing. In other words, a terminal accesses a printer on a network for remote printing. In order to accomplish Web printing among diverse print drivers, existing device drivers are modified for a printer to be used and sent to the printer via network along with the data. In this scheme, a terminal operator simply selects a desirable printer from a list of printers that are connected to the network, and an existing driver is modified according to the selected device.
In the above described prior attempts, a peripheral device functions as a server. Consequently, if a client such as a terminal directly utilizes a resource on a network and if the resource is a peripheral device which runs as a server on the same network, the client must provide the peripheral device with necessary data. This requirement prevents a first resource such as a printer from using an additional resource to provide data on the network. The above described Web printing enhances its flexibility and usefulness if a terminal unit can easily specify multiple resources including a Web printer and a Web document.